Rockable foot and leg rest



y 1961 1.. J. BRANTL 2,983,309

ROCKABLE FOOT AND L EG REST Filed May 26. 1958 INVENTOR.

LOWS d. BRANTL United States Patent 2,983,309 ROCKABLE FOOT AND LEG BEST7 Louis J. Brant], 35 E. Garland Ave., Spokane, Wash.

Filed May 26, 1958, Ser. No. 131,707

3 Claims. '(Cl. 155-169 .The present invention is a foot and leg resthaving a rockable base and a tiltable support platform associatedtherewith in such a manner as to permit independent rocking and tiltingmovements of said base and platform in a coincident plane. H

Applicant is aware that in the prior .art there are ottomans which rockand some of which float and thus provide footrests which may beused inconjunction with a rocking chair, but each of these has some drawback.or undesirable feature. In some instances, the footrestis merely anottoman type which causes the weight of the limbs to be supported uponthe heels of one using the footrest, which is very undesirable. Some ofthese ottomans have been provided with means which .permit movement andtherefore floating footrests which may be used with rocking chairs, butthe support of the limbs on the heels soon becomes unbearable and thefeet must be removed from the footrest.

There are others which provide foot and leg rests having a supportmember which extends along a portion of the leg, for instance, under thecalf of the leg, while an angular portion supports the sole of the feet.These 2,983,309 Patented May 9, 1961 Another object of the inventionlies in the provision of a foot and leg rest for use with a rockingchair which has a rocking base pivotally supporting a support platformfor said tilting movements and provided with means for yieldablymaintaining the support platform in a position intermediate its path ofmovement limits.

Yet another object of the present invention lies in the provision of afoot and leg rest for use with a rocking chair which is assembled withfacility from a minimum number of parts and therefore onewhich is notliable to become inoper'ative because of long and continued use.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Ihave disclosed one physical embodiment of my present invention. It willbe understood, however, that modifications and changes are contemplatedand that I do not wish to be limited to that physical embodimentdisclosed in the drawings, but that the drawings are exemplifying onlyto facilitate an understanding of the by the prior art as reflected inthe appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals" V are employed todesignate like parts:

have been found to be more comfortable than the ottoman type, butimpractical for' use with a rocking chair, because in every instance ofwhich the inventor is aware, the rocking members have been rigidlysecured to the supporting platform, and therefore when the legs aremoved forwardly by reason of a forward rocking move ment in a chair, therearward edge of the platform, pivoting over the rockers of the foot andleg rest, applies pressure to the back of the legs while attempting tolift the feet from the footrest portion, while rearward rocking movementin the rocking chair will cause the leg support portion to movedownwardly from the legs and effect support of the legs and feet fromthe heels as aforementioned, while the footrest portion presses againstthe soles of the feet.

It has therefore been found that this prior art type of combined footand leg rest is undesirable because it soon becomes tiring when onerocks in a rocking chair. Actually it results in immobilizing therocking chair when this prior art foot and leg rest is in use.

Yet another type of foot and leg rest employed presently is one whichhas a rigidly supported base to which is pivotally secured a legsupporting platform having a foot rest angularly disposed relativethereto. This form, while effective as a foot and leg rest for a personwho is completely immobilized, is ineffective for use with a rockingchair, and therefore in at least this situation is undesirable.

It therefore becomes one object of the present invention to provide afoot and leg rest which overcomes the aforementioned undesirablefeatures and results in one which is admirably adapted for use with arocking chair.

A further object of the present invention lies in the provision of afoot and leg rest which has a rocking base and a supporting platformpivotally mounted upon the base for tilting movements coincident to theplane of rocking movements of the base.

v Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of my improved foot and legrest in a normal position as it may be usedwith a conventionalfour-legged chair;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing my improved foot 2 and leg rest asemployed with a rocking chair and showing the relative positions of thesupporting platform and its base approaching their movement limits byalternate full and dotted line disclosures;

Figure 3 is an end elevation upon an enlarged scale and having portionsbroken away for convenience of illustration taken substantially on theplane indicated at line 3-3 of Figure 4; and

Figure 4 is a longitudinal cross section taken substantially on theplane indicated at line 4--4 of Figure 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, my foot and leg restfor use with a rocking chair is indicated in its entirety by the numeral10, and it will be seen comprises a base 11 which is provided with means12 for imparting manual rocking movements to the base 11. This meansincludes laterally spaced side plates 13 having curvilineal rockingfaces 14 provided with recurvate extensions as at 15 to form stops forlimits to the normal rocking movements of the base 11.

The side plates 13 are interconnected by crossbars 16, 16a, and 16b,which are rigidly fixed to the said side plates and form a unitary base11. On the inner faces of the side plates 13 I provide stops 17 againstwhich the side bars 18 of a supporting platform 19 strike to limit thetilting movement of the supporting platform 19 over the pivot formed bythe crossbar 16b which is received in the upwardly extending recesses 20formedin the side bars 18. Spacing washers 21 are provided to center thesupporting platform 19 on the base 11. A leg L is shown by broken linesas supported upon the platform 19.

At their outer ends the side bars 18 are provided with angularlydisposed footrest supports 22. The side bars 18 are rigidly fixed incoincident relationship to each other by means of cross members 24. Tothe upper or inner edges of the cooperating side bars 18 I secure asupporting plate 25 which is of a length and configuration substantiallyas shown in Figure 4. Over this plate I lay a cushion 26 which ispreferably of sponge rubber, but other cushioning materials may also beemployed, and thence a fabric or other covering as at 27 may be appliedfor the protection of the cushioninng material and for providingesthetic values to the foot and leg rest.

A longitudinally extending support bar 28 is provided with fasteningmeans 29 at each end, each of which means, it will be seen, comprises aneye disposed laterally midway the width of the foot and leg rest.Tension springs 30 each have one end secured to said eyes 29 and theopposed ends of said springs are'secured in eyes 31 which are fixedrelative to the supporting platform 19 longitinually spaced equidistantfrom the pivot axis at 1612. These springs and associated membersconstitute means for yieldably maintaining the supporting platform 19sub stantially midway its limits of tilting movement with respect to thebase 11. 7

To the footrest portion 32 of the foot and leg rest, I provide anelectrically energized vibrator 33 so that one may selectively operatethe vibrator to facilitate massaging the feet and therefore increase thecomfort that may be derived by employing the foot and leg rest.

Having thus described one physical embodiment of my invention, I desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States the following:

1. A foot and leg rest for use with a rocking chair comprising a base;laterally spaced rockers supporting said base for rocking movement;laterally extending tie bars rigidly associating said rockers withrespect to each whereby to yieldably hold said supporting platform intermediate its tilting movement limits.

2. In a foot and leg rest for use with a rocking chair having a baseincludingmeans for imparting manual rocking movement thereto, a foot andleg support platform comprising: a leg supporting portion and a footsupporting member at one end thereof and extending at an angle thereto;said leg supporting member being of a length and curvature to conform tothe shape of a persons leg; means for pivotally associating saidsupporting platform for tilting movement coincident to the plane ofrocking movements of said base; and resilient means for yieldablyholding said platform intermediate its tilting movement limits withrespect to said base.

3. A foot and leg rest for use with a rocking chair comprising a basehaving means for manually imparting rocking movements thereto; a footand leg supporting platform pivotally mounted upon said base for tiltingmovements coincident to the plane of rocking movements of said base; andresilie'nt'mea ns yieldably holding said platform with respect to'saidbase intermediate its tilting movement limits.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS169,897 Farnham Nov. 16, 1875 590,520 Harte Sept. 21, 1897 2,085,164Mead June 29, 1937 2,112,678 Rausch Mar. 29, 1938- 2,127,398 FreemanAug. 16, 1938 2,281,119 Smith Apr. 28, 1942 2,528,331 Bell Oct. 31, 1950

